Method of smelting ores.



R. BAG-GALEY. .METHOD 0F SMELTING GRES. APPLLOATION'FILD FEB. 8,1906.

900,466. Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

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' R. BAGGALEY. MLTTJeron` or SMELTING DRES. v

x APPLICATION FILED QPEB'. 8, 1906. 900,466.

` Patented oet. 6,1908.

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1,1. BAGGALEY; METHOD 0F -SMELTING ORES.

APPLICATIOI-T FILED PEB. 8,1906.

Patented Oct. 6, '1908.v

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INVENTOR 44 A2.

TH'E MORRIS Fsrsns co., wAsmNa-ron. n. c.

R. BAGGALEY.

' METHOD OP SMELTING GRES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8, 1906.

Patented 0ct. 6,19o8.

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v primarily for use in thepracticeof a` process `yielding valuablemetal.

" entre BAGG'ALEY, 'or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

'METHOD orsMEI/i'rmeonns.

Toiall whom #may concern.' i i Be it known that I, RALPH BAGGALnr, ofPittsburg, in the `county of-Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania,have'invented a new and useful V"Method of Smelting "Ores, of which thefollowinivis av full, clear, fand eX- lact description, re erence'beinghadtothe accompanying. drawings, forming part i of y this specification,in which-.-`

Figure l is a longitudinal `section of a furnace suitable for `practiceof my inven tion, the section being ontheline I Iof Fig. 2; Fig. 2 isacross-section on the line II-II of Fig. l; Fig. 3 illustrates thepowerV mechanism that maybe advantageouslyutil ized in actuating the.damper doors2 of Fig. 2 which preferablyextend the entire` interiorlength of the crucible.` Fig.V 4 is acrosssection on the line yIIL-IVof., Fig. 5, 'show-f ing apparatus 'of modified construction.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section Ionjtheline Fig.. 6V shows the powerV-V of Fig. 4; mechanism that may be used to actuate the water-cooleddampe'rs 2 of Figs. 4L' and 5.

The object of.my.-invention is tofrnakeit possible to dissolve ores inopen-top fur' naces whether suchfurnaces be constructed of heavymetal`blocks, ofrefractory mate rial of any kind, yor of wateihjackets of anykind. My presentinvention'has been designed of` smelting ore wherein thefollowingjrsteps are employed. 1st. Producing a molten bath of cleanmatteor offmolten-ores, the distinctive feature Aof .which bath, is`,high

fuel Values. 2nd. Dissolving thereafter in this molten bath throughftheintense heat produced by the converting process Vores whose distinctiveconstituents1 are silica, for

releasing and` fluxing the iron ,contained-Ain,

the molten bath,1 andmineral values, for

The process employs no carbonaceous fuel of any kind, or practically nosuch'fuel beyond the small amount necessary.; tostart the process intooperation. fr When once started it depends alone foritssuccessupni theheat produced bythe oxidationvof: the

various elements and compounds that partlyv constitute the molten "bath,suchfforinstance as iron, sulfur, arsenic, thereof and many. otherthings.l It is therefore necessary in'order topractice this'artsuccessfully to conserve carefully theh'eat' which is thus produced, andI havediscov` if "specification of'nettrs' restent.

,and compounds i Patented oc1;.e,190s.v

, tendenti mea retriary 8,1906. l seriaiNo. 300,071. i

ered'that is practically impossible to use an open-top furnace of anykind for the purpose, because itjpermits the .continuous and almostinstantaneous escape of the heat ,through'the hood and out ofthe stack.VBy

-wayof illustration I may'state, that the converting processv as'successfully conducted heretofore could not be practiced in a converterthat. was'open at the top to the full area of thev converter at itswidest part, for

in such a converter the escape of the heat would .beso rapid that theprocess itself `would fail. Onthe contrary, it is absolutely essentialto success that the converter shall `have a lnarrow contracted nose orthroat which will hold the heat produced by the process to thel utmostlimit before permitting it'to escape into `the stack. This conservationof the internal heat is carried to such an extent in present practice,that a pressure ofthe gases is often produced on the interior of theconverter.

'i l.The process vabove mentioned involves even more exactingconditions, and demands 'even greater conservation of the heat producedvinthe furnace than does the ordinary converting process, becausethemolten bath in it is compelled to heat upand to dissolve ores that maybe 'primarily cold, or if preheated atally they are` still Vat atemperature much less `than thefusion point.

I have found-that because of the rapid escape of theheat from anopen-top furnace in which the process above referred to, is beingpracticed, a continuous congealing of the matte and slag will occur onthe side and end walls of such open-top furnace and because vof thistrouble it is vonly ya question of time until'theseiaccretions close upthe Crucible andthus bring` the processto a full stop.

rIhis dificulty'is intensely aggravated Where Water-,jackets are used,because the flow of water 4continuously' abstracts and dissipates theinternal heat of thefurnace and greatly reduces the `temperature `of thebath. My .presentinventionmakes it Vpossible to use an `open-top`furnace of almost any -kind and constructed of almost any material. Itcomprises means abovethefcrucible `to regulate or govern the escapeVofthe internal heat through the stack, downtake, or otherwise.

Many different means maybe utilized to ac- Y complish this result.

v v My` preferred "form of construction is that shown in Figs. 1, 2"andV3. The furnace shown in these figures is built of heavy metal blocks 3,as described in an application filed the crucibles of open-top furnacesas broadly by C. M. Allen on March 31st, 1904, Serial No. 200,943. Suchheavy metal blocks will continuously absorb, retain and conserve theinternal heat of the crucible and will not wastefully dissipate it aswater-jackets are liable todo. The furnace has damper-doors 2', 2,mounted on trunnions 4 arranged to swing, through the action of acylinder 5, and rack and pinion (i, or other suitable power-mechanism,into the positionsV shown in dotted lines of Fig. 2, which will have theeffect of almost closing the upper portion of the furnace and of thuspreventing the escape of its internal heat. The dampers have wings 7arranged so that while they are in this position, their upper surfaceswill constitute a hopper, through which ores may be fed into the moltenbathbelow to be dissolved.

The furnace has the usual twyers 8, slagoutlet, 9, tap-hole 9 for metalor matte, and charging-openings l0.

llVhen the furnace is in operation, the dampers are moved towards orfrom each other to vary the width of opening at the upper part of thefurnace in conformity to the heat requirements of the bath, which isthus maintained at the temperature proper for effective work indissolving the additions of ore, but these changes are effected withoutsubstantially changing the air-pressure of the blast.

Figs. 4 and- 5 illustrate other mechanical means for producing'the sameresult, and in this instance the invention is applied, by way ofillustration, to a water-jacketed furnace; although I do not recommendAthe use of water-jackets for this purpose, for the reasons hereinbeforestated. Still I have found that water-jackets may be used, if ampleprovision, such as that contemplated in my present invention, is madefor preventing or controlling the escape of the internal heat. Inpracticing this art in awat-er-jacketed furnace, a much thicker skull orlining forms upon the interior walls of the furnace than where metalblocks are used, because of the rapid extraction of heat by the water.

In Figs. 4 and 5, the dampers 2 are watercooled hollow boxes pivoted attheir upper ends and adapted to swing inwardly as shown in dotted lines,water being supplied to them by pipes ll which extend axially throughthe trunnions 4.

I consider the method above described of controlling the escape ofinternal heat from new,V and I do not wish my invention to be limited tothe particular mechanical means illustrated in the drawings. Forinstance, sliding water-acketed dampers may be used, such as thoseillustrated in my application Serial No. 2 2,391, tiled April 9, 1904-,for a matte producing furnace, and in other ways the same results whichare essential to success may be accon'iplished.

Various modifications in the apparatus for the practice of thisinvention will naturally suggest themselves to those skilled in the art,without departing from the spirit of my invention, since lVhat I claimis zl. The method of treating ores, which consists in producing a moltenbath high in fuel values, dissolving in the bath ores havingconstituents for releasing and iluxing the iron and mineral valuescontained in the molten bath, the process when started being carried outwithout the use of carbonaceous fuel` and by the heat produced by theo.\idation of the fuel values of the ore and bath, -and during suchprocess varying the a ra olf the escape opening of the vessel in whichthe process is carried out conformably to the heat requirements of thebath, whereby the heat produced within the vessel may be held therein toa controllable maximum extent; substantially as described.

2. The method of treating ores, which consists in producing a moltenbath high in fuel values, dissolving in the bath ores whose distinctiveconstituents are silica for releasing and liuxing the iron contained inthe molten bath, and mineral values, the process when started beingcarried out without the use of carbonaceous fuel and by the heatproduced by the oxidation of the fuel values contained in the ore, andduring such proeess varying the area of the escape (mening of the vesselin which the process is carried on conformably to the heat requirementsof the bath and without materially increasing the pressurer within thevessel, whereby the heat produced within the vessel may be held thereinto a maximum extent; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

RALPH BAGGALEY.

litnesses HLLIAM M. IsiRiirA'rRion, FRANK L. RILEY.

